For Ashley
by Alysscassandra
Summary: 1 year after Ruby's death, widower Clancy is faced with a daunting task: parenting the one reminder of her he has left. Set 11 years after 'Blink and you die'
1. Prologue

**I wrote a simple prologue for the story, this is my first fic so bear with me 3 Please give me feedback on how to make this better! Hopefully, my next chapters will be longer :} Enjoy!**

Prologue

She should have been here yesterday. Instead he got a letter with a fly stamp that read "unexpected mission extension." And that was it. They took two months to tell him that they had somehow "misplaced" an agent. That her whereabouts was completely unknown and that Spectrum had given up on bringing her home. It took another month for a second letter to be dispatched, entitled "If I Die: Agent Redfort's last words to loved ones." Clancy knew all too well the secret intelligence's policy on just-in-case letters: one agent, one letter, to one loved one. The letter said:

"Hi Clance,

I'm sorry to leave like this. You were the best bozo i ever knew. I probably died heroically or something, figuring out the clues at the last second, racing against time in the ultimate sacrifice. That's the dream right? My will is attached below in code, you know the drill. I love you, buster. You'll be ok ;)

Ruby"

The rest was in code, indecipherable to anyone but them. Only him now. No-one would ever use that code again. It took three months to dispatch the letter, but one second for his heart to break.


	2. Chapter 1

**I haven't really given enough content for this story so I wrote a full chapter. I hope you like it! Remember to let me know what you think in the review section, I would appreciate it! Also, I will update semi-regularly so follow or favourite to get up-to-date. Thank you so much!**

_One year later_

Clancy woke up and threw some bread in the toaster. The microwave read 10:38 so it was probably 10:02. He still hadn't reset it since the minor blackout 2 months ago. It was a Saturday so he didn't have anywhere to be. He sat down on a seat at his kitchen island, and waited for his toast to pop. He was broken out of his thought process by a knock at the door. He quickly checked his appearance for the first time in weeks and realised just how dishevelled he looked. He hadn't shaved in months, he hadn't showered in a while and his hair was just a mess. He was also still in his pajamas. The knocking persisted, so he ran a hand through his hair and opened the door. What he saw was a face he never thought he'd see again.

_Hitch P.O.V_

The door opened (finally) and I was greeted by a face I barely recognised. The life in his blue eyes was long gone, and his floppy blonde hair was barely controlled. He hadn't seen him so miserable since Ruby was thought dead in a sand timer way back when he was thirteen. He was 28 now, but looked much older than that with rough stubble along his chin in a not-quite-beard. Despite this, he was glad to see an old friend, though he wondered if Clancy was up to the task he was about to be offered. 'May I come in?' he asked, and Clancy waved him through silently.

_Clancy P.O.V_

Hitch walked through the door, and Clancy had so many questions. Why is he here? Does he want Clancy to do work at Spectrum? Why has he brought a baby? Where did that come from? What is so familiar about those eyes? How did he know where to find him? Why did he find him? Hitch seemed to anticipate the questions, and stated:'You might want to sit down. I'll answer those questions I'm sure you have, but you need to stay calm.'

'Here's what you need to know: Ruby had a mission to crack a code and send us the answers so we could track down the criminals. The usual. But you know enough about Ruby to know she could never do just that. She crack the code straight away, and pursued the criminal straight away. I got there just too late and we escaped, but barely. We went into witness protection, which is when you were sent her letter, while the trained professionals took down the criminals, but the other code-crackers were struggling with the new code, and the criminals were set on revenge.'

Clancy got up, started buttering his toast and pacing.

'I can't tell you who they were, or what they did, but they were coming for us. While we were in witness protection, Ruby realised she was pregnant. Now the community around us got suspicious, because she couldn't say who's it was, and she was already missing home so much, so our cover broke. We ran away, but we couldn't find another community to settle with. Eventually, she gave birth to a daughter, but a week later they found us. The two of them broke down our door, and told her to escape through the window. She said she couldn't because of her daughter, crying in her arms. She knew that her daughter wouldn't survive if she escaped, and she placed her down gently in her crib and put her hands up. As they came in I disarmed and shot the first criminal, who fell to the floor. I reached to kick and disarm the second criminal but his gun was on Ruby's head.'

Hitch let a single, salty drop of water, tumble down his face.

'She asked me to make sure that her daughter was safe, and that you would look after her. She wanted you to know so badly, but Spectrum could break her cover. I pointed my gun at the second criminal, who shot and then fled the scene. I checked on Ruby but it was to late. So I took the kid and-'

At this point Clancy had been flapping his arms so much he fell of his chair and passed out from shock.

'Sorry kiddo.' Hitch said helping him up, toast long forgotten.

Over the next few weeks, Hitch helped Clancy adapt a free bedroom into the perfect nursery. They picked out the perfect colour for the walls 'Ruby would hate something to girly' insisted Clancy. 'But we can't have blue, that doesn't feel right.' Hitch shot back. 'What about green, like her eyes.' suggested Clancy quietly. Hitch agreed. When the process was all done Clancy finally asked 'We've done ALL the prep now, what actually _is_ her name?' 'Ashley' Hitch replied simply. 'Ashley. I like it. Ashley.' repeated Clancy. 'If you're gonna look after this child, you need to promise me that you will love and protect her.' commanded Hitch. 'Of course... may I?' said Clancy and Hitch left. Unbeknown to him, Hitch was watching quietly at the door of the nursery. 'Ashley, I love you so much. And as long as you live, you will be protected, loved and cared for by me. I promise that I will not let you down. You are so beautiful, and you will never be without love and guidance. I love you with all my heart.' _He's ready_ thought Hitch.

**Thanks so much for reading through this, I love the Ruby Redfort series so much and there is not enough content capturing what might have happened after ****_Blink and you die_****. Anyway please let me know if you liked it (or didn't) with a review. I have a plan for more from this storyline, and I've made a rough idea of what the next chapters will look like UNTIL IT IS COMPLETE so definitely set this story on alert, favourite, whatever. Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hello! Sorry for the break, I am back and ready to publish! Thank you to Majacu26 for the follow, it means heaps.**

_Chapter 2 - Clancy POV_

I slide out of bed feeling strange. I hadn't felt this okay for a while, and I had a hunch that something was wrong. My hunches were never (usually) wrong, so I checked on Ashley. She was sleeping peacefully in the spare-room-turned-nursery, beautiful as always. I couldn't help but stare in awe of her for a second, just appreciating her, before I snapped out of my trance. I started to look for Hitch, to see if he knew what was wrong, checking every room in the house. When I checked outside, I saw a frightened presence, or lack thereof. Hitch's car was gone.

_Crap._

Did he just take off? Surely he knew better than that. I am certainly not ready to do this myself, I only met Ashley a few weeks ago. Heck, I don't even know what babies eat. _How did you not notice! _He scolded himself. So he panicked.

_Hitch POV_

I opened the door to with the key I had stolen borrowed off Clancy's table. My other hand was holding groceries as I walked into Clancy pacing and flapping in the dining room. "Hey are you alright there?" I asked. I almost dropped the groceries as he can running at me screaming "Hitchyou'rehereyoudidn'tleaveit'sgonnabefineIwasworriedI'mnotreadyIthoughtyouweregonebutyou'renotsoit'sgood-" I had to stop him there "We ran out of milk. I left a note on the fridge." "The- fridge." he responded as he checked the adjacent room, realising what he hadn't seen: the note. As he took a deep breath, I rolled my eyes and restocked the fridge. "You know you are better at this than you let on. Ashley is so much calmer in your arms." I said, breaking the silence. "But I'm just not ready! I mean how do I even feed? With what? What do they need?" I responded calmly "Love. As long as you care they will be fine. And you just put formula into a sterilised bottle." "How do you know all this" Clancy questioned.

"Google."

"You're kidding!"

"Not at all... well maybe I had some doctor's advice."

"I knew it!" Clancy said. "It's not as hard as you think." I told him. "But you might need some official documents for her. As far as the government is concerned she doesn't exist." Clancy seemed shocked that he had forgotten this, so I gave him the legal guardian documents I had picked up while I was out. "Don't worry I was messing with you. I got her birth certificate made weeks ago. All that's left is for you to be her legal guardian." "It says I will be the 'sole' guardian." Clancy objected "I'm not sure if I can do this." "I am." I said simply. I left the room to check on Ashley, and to leave him with the decision I had given him. I knew he would never ditch Ashley, so I was confident he would sign the papers. But I was aware that he needed time.

_Clancy POV_

I looked at the documents Hitch had presented. This was my future. Was I really going to do this? But I thought back to the mental image of peaceful Ashley and I knew. She is my future. She is my purpose. Everything I do from now on is going to be for Ashley. And I don't mind one bit.

**So there you go! There's the link to the title, and a huge step of commitment from Clancy. In the next chapter we will see Hitch as he prepares to say goodbye, then a time jump to one-year-old Ashley. Thank you for reading, let me know if I made any mistakes, if you would like the chapters to be any longer, or if you enjoyed the story. Until next time, bye!**


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